Many businesses in the Indian financial hub of Mumbai closed on Wednesday as protesters from a low-caste community blocked traffic and shopping malls and staged sit-ins on railway lines after clashes with right-wing Hindus.The call for a general strike across the western state of Maharashtra led to largely peaceful protests, but life in many parts of Mumbai was disrupted with Dalits pelting buses with stones and deflating tires in some areas. Railway lines and some major roads leading into the city were blocked.The Dalits, who rank at the bottom in India’s ancient caste hierarchy, called the strike in protest against attacks from right-wing groups in the city of Pune on Monday. The strike shut businesses and schools in Mumbai and other cities across the state.“The government didn’t arrest the perpetrators of violence in Pune. Hindu group members were beating Dalits and the police were just watching from afar,” said protester Sandeep Kamble. “We are demanding the arrest of the culprits.”The protest came a day after thousands of Dalits hurled stones and caused traffic disruption across Mumbai. Dalits have been ostracized by upper-caste Hindus for centuries for jobs they deemed as impure, such as garbage pickers and tannery workers.Those protests followed celebrations by Dalits in Pune, 150 km (95 miles) from Mumbai, on the 200th anniversary of a battle they won, fighting alongside British colonial forces, against an upper-caste ruler. Those celebrations were disrupted by right wing Hindu groups and a 28-year-old man was killed in the clashes, according to the state government.In parts of the Mumbai suburb of Thane, officials banned the assembly of crowds, small or large, to control protesters, who disrupted road and rail services during the morning rush hour.Schools were closed in some cities and internet service was down in places to restrict social media access and the spread of rumors.Fleet taxis, along with cab hailing services like Uber and Ola, were also largely off the roads in Mumbai on Wednesday. Several offices asked employees to work from home.read more

Kolkata: The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has submitted its report to the Alipore Court on Wednesday in connection with the carcass meat row, highlighting that the central laboratory has stated that most of the samples were unfit for testing.CID had sent samples of the carcass meat to the laboratory for testing a few months ago. After going through the samples, the laboratory authorities clearly wrote to the investigating agency, that “the meat is unfit for carrying out test and the stale samples did not even look edible.” Also Read – Heavy rain hits traffic, flightsSources said that the CID has highlighted the findings of the laboratory in its report and stated that the samples of the meat were not fit for testing. Later, an officer raised the question “how can the meat, which is unfit for test, be treated as fit for human consumption?”It may be recalled that it was April 19 when the carcass meat case came to light, when local people beat up two youths and handed them over to the police after they were caught chopping off flesh from dead animals dumped in Budge Budge dump yard. Also Read – Speeding Jaguar crashes into Merc, 2 B’deshi bystanders killedA case was initiated with Budge Budge police station. Later, CID took up the case and initiated a probe in this connection.Five persons who were arrested in this connection, pleaded for bail before the court on Wednesday. But their pleas were rejected and they were remanded in judicial custody. It may be recalled that the state government has set up a high powered committee to evolve a foolproof mechanism for bringing an end to the menace of selling carcass meat. The committee is headed by Chief Secretary Malay De and Home Secretary Atri Bhattacharya, while Commissioner of Kolkata Police Rajeev Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary of Panchayat and Rural Development department and Principal Secretaries of Health department, Urban Development and Municipal Affairs department, Food and Supplies department and Animal Resources Development (ARD) department are members of the committee.After its first meeting, the committee had recommended allowing police, health department officials and civic bodies to carry out raids, to ensure that no stale food and carcass meat is sold at any place.read more

The rainy season may affect the immune system, so it is important to keep yourself hydrated and eat lots of green vegetables, says an expert.Here are a few tips:* Go green: Asparagus, cucumber, broccoli, leafy vegetables, zucchini and green vegetables are ideal. They have enough liquid content to keep the body hydrated and enough protein to provide energy. They keep you relaxed without causing any digestive irritations. * Avoid cold water: What that ice cold water does is effectively douse the digestive fires. This will cause digestive problems and a feeling of lack of energy. Water at room temperature assimilates into your body faster and rehydrates you quickly. Also Read – ‘Playing Jojo was emotionally exhausting’* Cold-pressed juices: You might have heard about the term ‘cold-pressed juices’ being thrown around these days in discussions on health and fitness. It is actually an alternate process of juicing fruits wherein they are mashed at first and then external pressure is applied to extract the juice. In this way, the enzymes inside the fruit remain intact. They are also great in alkalising the acid build up in the body to keep the pH level neutral. Some fruits have nutrients that naturally help the immunity system. Also Read – Leslie doing new comedy special with NetflixThere are certain options for juice flavours that are ideal for monsoon season. Here’s a list of some:* Guava: A power-packed punch of Vitamin C, this fruit along with lemon and pineapple refreshes the system significantly. Guavas are also very high in anti-oxidants.* Mango: It helps to fight heat strokes, lowers cholesterol and is also a great alkalising agent. Undeniably, however, is the refreshing, delicious taste of this fruit that makes it a perfect drink. * Pomegranate: It helps to enhance the blood flow and detoxify the body of impurities. Another great source of Vitamin C. It is extremely hydrating and its juice delivers essential micro-nutrients and photo chemical to the skin.read more

Growing a business sometimes requires thinking outside the box. Free Webinar | Sept. 9: The Entrepreneur’s Playbook for Going Global The story of the internet so far has been one of both ever-faster speeds and ever-higher demand for connectivity. According to Cisco, worldwide internet traffic reached more than 20 exabytes per month in 2010. (An exabyte is a billion gigabytes.) The smart money says demand is only going to keep rising.Fortunately, the physical infrastructure of the internet is equipped to handle it, at least for a while. The undersea cables we use now can be upgraded to move data at 100 gigabytes per second, about 10 times faster than current speeds. And a $1.5 billion project is underway to reduce the lag time of signals between London and Tokyo by 60 milliseconds using a fiberoptic cable in the Arctic Ocean, the first of its kind in that part of the world.The infographic below, compiled by Gator Crossing, a Houston-based web hosting service provider founded in 2002, provides a history of the internet along with some facts even dedicated web geeks might not know. Such as the fact that as of 2010, about half of rural households in America did not have internet access at home. Where’s Google Fiber when you need it?Click to Enlarge+ Register Now » September 25, 2013 Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. 1 min readread more